Coping
by ThatJeredyWriter
Summary: What if Jellal never recovered his sight? How will he and Meredy cope with the new handicap and still fight? This is a request from an anon on tumblr divided into two parts in celebration of Jeredy Weekend. Please enjoy! (Jellal x Meredy fanfic)
1. Part 1 - Angst

The battle is over. A smoking crater is left in the wake of Jellal's victory over Oracion Seis. Four mages now lay on the ground in defeat, their bodies sore, and their clothes covered in cuts, dirt, and some blood. But they were still alive, a small miracle in and of itself when considering that the blue-haired sinner had just finished dropping a small meteor on the group. But he had no intention of killing them, thus allowing for the attack to miss and letting the intense blast that resulted from its collision into the planet to do the job of incapacitating them for the time being.

Meredy looks on in shock. She wasn't sure what made her tremble, whether it was seeing Jellal's amazing attack and its outcome or if she was still recovering from the emotional trauma of witnessing Midnight's illusion of seeing her close companion die and wither away into nothingness before her eyes. Her eyes wonders over the battlefield until she finds Jellal on his knees over the illusion mage, gripping tightly upon the defeated man's fur coat and telling him something she couldn't make out from so far away.

"Jellal… you're really…" she whispers to herself, thanking the heavens that he was still very much alive. But before she could say another word, the heavenly mage collapses onto his side. The combination of the damage sustained from the battle as well as the cost of using such a powerful spell has set in and he could no longer stay upright. Meredy gasps and without a second thought rushes into the crater. All the while Richard, the last member of the Oracion Seis, could only watch while his hands trembled uncontrollably. Having witnessed Jellal move the heavens themselves to obtain victory is a feat he's never seen anyone do. A mortal tampering with god-like abilities is something that any man would easily fear, yet Jellal didn't kill any of them. His eyes trail behind Meredy as she rushes to his side.

"Jellal!" calls out Meredy as she stumbles onto her knees to help the man up into her arms. "Jellal! Are you ok?! Hey!" As she turns him over to a face-up position so he could rest his head on her lap, Meredy now had a clear picture of the damage done. His body is covered in multiple cuts and bruises, his breathing is short and ragged, and worse of all, his eyes were bleeding and the crimson fluids stained his cheeks. "Oh god!" she gasps under her breath before wiping away the blood with the cloth of her blue coat. "Jellal, please… Say something…"

"M-…Me… redy…" grunts the man as he continues to breathe heavily. The pain of having sacrificed his sight in order to break Midnight's spell still burns within his skull. A hand lifts to grip across his closed eyes trying to adapt to the pain. The adrenaline rush that had blocked out the sting of his actions is quickly leaving his system.

"Oh thank god, you're still alive," the pinkette whispers to him as she held him closer and presses her forehead against the back of his hand. "You idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!" Her voice starts to crack. Tears begin to sting the corner of her eyes before she shuts them tightly. "Why did you go this far? Why didn't you let me help?" Her hands grip his clothes tightly, shaking in anger and frustration. "I could've helped… I could've protected you."

"Meredy…" he replies softly as his hand slips from between them and now gently cups her cheek, pulling her closer to press their foreheads together. "This is my sin to bear. The lives of these five were the result of my own darkness consuming my heart. You had nothing to do with them. I didn't want you to get hurt because of something I've done. I'm sorry. I should've warned you beforehand."

Meredy's body shakes as she remains curled up with Jellal on her lap. "Your eyes…" she states quietly, "…you might not ever see again…"

"Yeah…" says Jellal quietly, "you're right. But it's a small price to pay. I've taken someone's life. The loss of my sight is but a fraction in comparison."

Meredy sits up and wipes her tears away with the palms of her hands. "How will you fight now? How are we going to defeat Zeref?"

With the help of the sensory mage, Jellal manages to sit up as well. His breathing has finally calmed down. He takes this moment to think and open his eyes. Alas, as he seemingly stares at the palm of his hand, he can see nothing but darkness. There is no light within his pupils and redness has spread throughout the rest of his orbs. "Together," replies Jellal as he closes his hand into a fist. "Together, we'll defeat him. Together we'll find a way. That is what I believe."

"Jellal…" Meredy couldn't help but admire the man. Even after having suffered so much, he still wants to keep moving forward. He wants to succeed in his mission and cleanse the slate he had stained. "I understand. In that case, I'll be your eyes."

The blue-haired mage couldn't help but chuckle. He felt lucky to have someone like her by his side supporting him through the good as well as the bad. "Is that so?" he asks. His head turns towards her voice with a smile. "Good. I've always wanted to have a set of eyes as beautiful as yours."

"N-now is not the time to say such embarrassing things!" Meredy's cheeks instantly flushed red. "Jeez!"

Jellal chuckles once more before extending a hand towards her. "Can you help me up?"

"Y-yeah…" Meredy takes his hand and pulls his arm over her shoulders to assist the man in standing up from the rocky ground.

"The others," says Jellal, "How are they?"

Meredy takes a moment to look at the defeated members of Oracion Seis. "They're alright," she replies, "They've all started standing up again. Looks like they're coming over to us."

"Good. I'm glad they're OK after that," he says with relief. His arm lowers from her shoulders and rests at his side. "Meredy… things are only going to get harder from here on. …I'm sorry."

"Hey…" Meredy looks over at Jellal with a concerned look. "You've got nothing to apologize for to me. I knew what I was getting into when we made this guild of ours and I'm still here with you. You said it youself…" Her hand reaches over to his and interlocks their fingers in a tight embrace. "We're in this together. We'll do it together to the end."

Once more, Jellal's smile graces his lips and turns his head towards the sound of her voice. "Yeah," he replies with a nod, "Together."


	2. Part 2 - Recovery Fluff

1 Month Later

Things have smoothened out between the former members of Oracion Seis and Jellal. They had become official members of Crime Sorciere, equipped with their own blue cloaks and guild marks where their previous ones used to be. Each day, they spend their time training each other, coping with their new lifestyle as criminals on the run, and helping each other survive through hunting and gathering goods such as fruits and vegetables. It was the beginning of a new life, one that Jellal hoped would lead them all to true freedom and have their strongest prayers heard and deepest wishes granted.

"Jellaaaaal!" calls out Meredy from their campsite, "It's time to change your bandages!"

"In a minute!" replies Jellal as he ducks under one of Cobra's punches. His head is wrapped in white bandages. It's been predicted that his eyes may never recover from the injuries he has sustained from the battle one month ago, but that hasn't stopped him from continuing his journey. Each day, he continues to challenge himself to adapt to his new handicap. He needed to strengthen his other senses and what better way than to train with the dragon slayer whose hearing couldn't be rivaled?

Another flurry of punches flies towards Jellal by Cobra, but they are swiftly dodged by the heavenly mage as he bobs and weaves in different directions narrowly dodging the attacks. Hoping to finish things off, Cobra engulfs his fist in his poison magic and swings in an arc towards Jellal's head from the right, but Jellal manages to catch the attack with his bare hand, much like before.

"I can still hear your moves, Erik," says Jellal with a confident smirk.

"Hmph, only because I'm holding back on you, bandage boy," replies the dragon slayer with a grind of his own before withdrawing his hand. "Go do your thing. I was getting kind of hungry anyways."

Respectfully ending their session, Jellal turns towards the campsite and carefully starts to make his way forward. Meredy wants nothing more than to quickly rush over and help guide the man, but he's asked her to grant him the opportunity to try and only help when he really needs it. Unfortunately, walking without any guidance was still a difficult task and Jellal finds himself stumbling from time to time. His foot gets caught by a rock, causing him to collapse onto his hands and knees. "Dammit…" he cursed under his breath, upset at his own limitations.

Meredy quickly rushes over and helps him back onto his feet. "Hey, you almost made it this time," she says, wanting to lift his spirits. "I probably would've stumbled over that, too, so don't feel bad."

Jellal couldn't stay angry. He couldn't allow himself to when she's trying just as hard to support him as he is trying to cope with the blindness. "Is that right? That's good. There's always next time. I'll definitely get it then."

Holding hands, Meredy guides him back to the campsite and sat him down on a large wooden log. "Now sit still and let me change those dirty bandages," she requests. Reaching behind his head, the pinkette undoes the dressing which comes off loosely over his shoulders.

"How does it look?" asks Jellal once they were off.

"Not bad at all," confirms Meredy. "The redness around your eyes is gone. Try opening your eyes."

The heavenly mage did as he was asked and opened his eyes. Brown hues stares blankly ahead as the light within his hues remains absent. Meredy frowns when she notices there's still no reaction from him.

"Let me give you a few drops to keep them hydrated before I wrap them up again."

"Thanks. Have you ever considered a career in health care? I would bet you'd make a wonderful nurse," compliments Jellal.

Meredy smiles as she pushes his head back and begins to apply the drops. "Not really. Needles kind of scare me," she says with a giggle. "But thank you."

As she begins to wrap Jellal's head with a fresh, clean dressing, her smile soon turns into a frown. She can't help but think back to the fight that caused this and how much Jellal had to sacrifice thus far to reach where he is.

"What's wrong?" asks Jellal, causing Meredy to snap out of her thoughts in surprise.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"You're breathing changed and you're moving slower. Something is on your mind. What's wrong?"

She stood there dumbfounded for a few moments staring at him in awe. Not long ago, Jellal couldn't take three steps without stumbling or duck under a tree branch, but now he can tell her mood changes just based on her breathing and her movements.

"It's… it's nothing…"

"Meredy…"

"…." She remains quiet as she finishes dressing Jellal in the bandages. Her hands now rest on Jellal's chest, feeling his calming heartbeat resonate against her palms. "How…? How can you be so strong? How can I be as strong as you?" she asks softly.

"Isn't that why we're traini—"

"No, I mean," she quickly interrupts, "How are you so calm even knowing that you most likely won't ever see again? How can you keep going like this? How can I be like you and just move forward fearlessly? If I were in your place, I'd be terrified. I'd feel so alone in the dark not knowing what to do. But you don't, so how?"

"Oh." Jellal's brows lift his brows from this unexpected turn of events. He hadn't realized that such thoughts were weighing heavily on her mind. But soon his expression softens into a smile and his hands carefully make their way over to Meredy's shoulders to hold in a gentle manner. "That's easy. By not being alone at all. By having you at my side."

"What?" asks the pinkette in confusion of what he means.

Removing his hands from her shoulders, Jellal sits forward on the log and rests his elbows upon his thighs. As he lowers his head, his fingers interlock together. "I'm going to be sincere with you, Meredy… This blindness, this… darkness… it terrifies me."

"Jellal…" Meredy takes a seat next to the man and rests her hand upon his back in a comforting manner.

"I keep opening my eyes thinking that I'll regain my vision," he continues, "but whenever I do, I still don't. Honestly, there are times that I do want to give up. To just let it all go and be done with it. But then… I hear your voice. I feel your touch. I sense your care for me. That's what keeps me going."

"But Jellal," interrupts Meredy, "if you want to stop, then let's do so. Let's just run away together and start a new life somewhere else. New names, new friends, and a new way of life. I don't want to be the reason you stay and fight. I don't want to be a burden for you at all."

"I can't do that," concludes Jellal, "I can't. I won't. We've come too far to quit now. And besides, I know you and Juvia are good friends. I can't make you stop seeing your friend like that. It would be cruel of me to do so."

Meredy frowns at the thought. She wants to argue to the contrary, but she can't find anything to say at that moment.

"But that aside," he resumes, "you're the opposite of a burden." Jellal's hands come lose and he rests one upon her thigh, caressing it gently. "You're the light in all of this darkness. You remind me of what we're fighting for. We fight to clear our names and to truly repent for our sins. When we've managed to do that, only then can we truly say that we're free."

Meredy's hand moves from behind the blue-haired mage and reaches for the one he has placed on her thigh to interlock their fingers together. She leans against him afterwards, resting her head upon his shoulder. "You're right. We've got to finish this soon and then we can finally start a real life together, right?"

"Yeah," he replies as he leans over and rests his head upon her own, "That's right. I'm sorry this has been so hard on you, Meredy. I'll try a little harder to get used to this."

"Mm-mm," she hums as she shakes her head, "No, it's fine. Take your time. Helping you like this is the least that I can do. I believe in you, Jellal. Even if you can't see again, I'll always be by your side. I promise."

"Thank you, Meredy."

The couple takes a few moments to enjoy this moment. Their hands squeeze together a little tighter with Meredy cuddling a little closer to her beloved.

"I should get back to training," says Jellal as he slowly breaks the embrace and stands up. "Erik is waiting for me."

"Oh… Yeah, you're right." She wishes the moment had lasted a little longer, but she knew how important this was so didn't say anything.

"You know, there is one thing I miss the most when I could see."

"Oh? What's that?" she asks with a tilt of her head.

"I miss seeing you smile," he says with his lips widening into a smile of his own.

Meredy's cheeks instantly resonate with a red hue as a smile graces her lips as well. She quickly stands up and takes Jellal's hands. "Well then, from now on, if you ever want to 'see' my smile, you only need to feel it." She brings his warm hands to cup her soft cheeks. Jellal did as he was instructed and caresses her lips with his thumbs, picturing the smile upon her features.

"That's a beautiful. Never lose it," he says. Suddenly, Meredy lunges forward and wraps her arms around the male's head as their lips lock together for a loving and longing kiss. Her feet are both up on tiptoes with her right leg being lifted behind her in glee of the moment. Jellal returns the kiss as his arms wraps around her waist and pulls her in closer for a warm embrace as they share the tender moment.

"I love you, you know that?" she asks after breaking the kiss some time after and resting her forehead against his.

"I do. And I love you, too, Meredy," he replies with a soft sigh. "Let's have a nice dinner tonight after this is over, just us two."

" Then it's a date~ "

Meredy's smile never left her lips afterwards.


End file.
